King James

“This is either about James Dean or the New Testament Bible. I always get ’em confused so you can figure it out for yourself.”

-Introduction from a live performance on 23 June 1988

Poor King James and his motley crew,
He was leather-bound and dog-eared too.
He lived and he died like a bolt from the blue.

Through desert hot and desert cold,
Where the new wave sands roll and dreams unfold.
He traded all his mirth for the glitter of the gold.

Wise men come, go down on their knees,
Just to introduce James to some new disease.
Said “Give me some of that, we’ll give you all of these.”

James said “My head is full of many rooms,
I run a fine tooth comb and an old barn broom.
Now I’ve opened up the door with my face on the tomb.”

Chorus:
“I have seen the face at the end of this place,
Where the spinning wheel stops,
On the little human race.
I have seen the face and it’s spinning out in space,
Spinning out in space, spinning out in space.
And still I wonder.
I wonder.”

Dead man, dead man tell me what it means,
To be thrown in the ring and get caught in between.
Is it simply boilin’ down to writin’ your own final scene?

Poor King James and his motley crew,
He was leather-bound and dog-eared too.
He lived and he died like a bolt from the blue.

repeat chorus

Appears On:

Living and Dying in the Coffee Generation – 1987Ghost Stories from Lonesome County – 1994Live at the Pumphouse – 1999Live and Acoustic from the Pres-House – 2001The Medicine Tribute – 2012